Online retail sales rise 26% vs. year ago for week ending Aug. 17

Online retail sales rose 26% for the week ended Aug. 17 vs. the year-ago period, to $992 million from $790 million, reports comScore Networks Inc.

Total retail sales for the week ending Aug. 16 were up 5.6% from the corresponding week a year ago, reports ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate. Retailers recovered the losses they suffered during the blackout in the Northeast on Aug. 14 and 15, Shopper Trak reports.

Travel-related online sales rose 48% over the same period, to just over $1 billion from $677 million, comScore adds.